Try as we might we couldn’t find accommodation in Esperance so only spent a short time there (see here.) Incredibly we couldn’t find anything anywhere near Esperance but finally found a motel with vacancies in the little town of Ravensthorpe – some 2 hours drive west of Esperance!

But it turned out to be a surprisingly good place to stay. Apart from being a nice little town with a few of its own surprises, Ravensthorpe proved to be a good base for some interesting places to visit…

The Big Lollipop

Yes it’s another one of those “Bigs of Australia”. And this one does appear on most of those type of lists. Clearly not a real lollipop but definitely a big one!

This is at the Yummylicious Candy Shack right on the main high street (Route 1) through the town centre. Impossible to miss really. The shop wasn’t open when we were in the area (bank holidays etc) but the sight of the Big Lollipop is free anyway…

It was a great idea by the owners of the sweet shop to put their town of “Ravy” on the map. They also applied for a Guinness World Record but were disqualified because the material of the lollipop was made of two materials — aluminium and steel — instead of one. Who knew that the Guinness World Records people were such sticklers eh? Nobody in Ravensthorpe cares though as their lollipop is 100mm bigger in diameter than what the actual world record stands at. This is definitely a ‘moral victory’ type world record.

Ravensthorpe Silo Art  

At the western end of town these silos are part of the WA Public Silo Art Trail. This silo art celebrates the six different stage of the flowering cycle of this species of Banksia:  from flower buds, to full bloom, to seedpods developing, drying out and opening. One stage painted per side on each of the three silos.

It took 31 days, 338 litres of paint for Fremantle-based, Dutch-born artist Amok Island to complete.

Lithium – The New Gold?

Even here in a rural farmland setting, mining is everywhere. And just outside Ravensthorpe is a large mine for one of the most important minerals of our time – Lithium. This is possibly the mineral of the moment, given its use in the manufacture of batteries used in electric vehicles and storage for the other new ‘big things’ like solar power systems.

It’s the kind of mine that should have a big impact on Ravensthorpe. Ensuring the town’s wealth and growth for the foreseeable future. Well, time will tell I guess. Various other mines have come and gone – and returned – in this area.

More Artwork – Farm Gate Art Trail

Ravensthorpe Regional Arts Council have been running a project called the ‘Farm Gate Art Trail’ with over 30 locations displaying some odd and very good sculptures. They have  mainly been crafted from scrap metal found around the farms. We never really tried to follow the ‘trail’ but could not really avoid some of the works.  Here are a few examples that we came across…

Coming up in future posts…

Coming up in the next post: Trips from Ravensthorpe to Wave Rock, Fitzgerald River National Park and Hopetoun…

Another bonus of staying in Ravensthorpe was that we were already that bit closer to our next destination. Albany. You can check out our time in Albany in forthcoming posts.

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